ALLEN PARK — The fine line between putting the best 46 NFL players in a game and looking toward the future is a fine one.

It appears the Detroit Lions are walking that line when it comes to the safety position.

Veteran safety Erik Coleman was released this week to make room on the 53-man roster for 27-year-old safety Tyrell Johnson who had been cut by the Miami Dolphins at the end of training camp.

Johnson, whose biological father is former Pistons guard Alvin Robertson, started 27 games and played in 49 for the Minnesota Vikings (2008-2011) who drafted him in the second round.

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“He’s a guy that our front office had their eyes on; we worked him out earlier this year and thought that he could offer us something. He’s got some experience, he’s got great size, he’s got great size,’’ Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. “He’s a guy that’s been on our radar for a while and it was a good time to get him. We’ll get him up to speed as quick as we can and see what kind of contribution he can make.”

Coleman was in his second season with the Lions. His first was cut short by an ankle injury.

“Erik was a consummate pro and I thought that last year we really missed him. When he got hurt last year in that Minnesota game we didn’t have that (short-term) IR rule,’’ Schwartz said. “We were sitting there looking at eight, 10 weeks, whatever ever it would be for that ankle to come back. It was a difficult decision to put him on IR last year. It was difficult at the end of the year when we were struggling in our secondary to see him moving him pretty well at that point.

“Erik had done a nice job on a special teams role, played some defense and had a couple really good games for us,’’ Schwartz said.

Coleman had started seven games this season for the Lions and played in all 12. He ranked fifth on the Lions with 45 total tackles. Coleman also had an interception and three pass defenses.

“Every decision we make we think is best for the team. We thought that Tyrell could give us a little bit (of) help in different areas than Erik had given us,’’ Schwartz said. “We certainly wish him the best. He was another guy that meant a lot to us from an experience standpoint, from a leadership standpoint.”